AC Milan’s honorary vice president Franco Baresi believes that the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals has put the Rossoneri against a ‘difficult opponent’ who will be favourites for the tie.
The draw for the quarters and the semi-finals of the competition took place this afternoon in Nyon at the UEFA headquarters and it saw Milan pitted against a domestic rival in Napoli, who are the runaway league leaders at the moment.
While on the one hand it means the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City were avoided, it does mean a very tense two legs awaits in April and then either Inter or Benfica will be the opponent in the final four for whoever gets through.
Speaking to SportMediaset, Baresi reacted to the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League that sees Milan face Napoli, with his comments relayed by SempreMilan.it.
“Looking at the right, I don’t know if it could have been worse or not. Napoli are a difficult opponent who are having a great year, we should be good at raising the level and putting in a great performance,” he said.
“Who is the favourite? The Champions League always gives different sensations than the league. It is clear that if we had to look at the table, Napoli are the favourites because they are having a great season and must be respected.
“Osimhen proved to be a great striker, a finisher capable of scoring in all ways. The Milan defence will have to be good at keeping him away from the penalty area, but Napoli don’t just have him. They are a team to fear, we know their game and we have to show all our quality.
“Leao? I believe that when you play in the Champions League the level rises, the team has done a very good journey in Europe: we have reached the quarterfinals and we have to think positively. Milan has its history and we can only look positively to the future when certain competitions are played.
“History helps. Playing for Milan brings you responsibilities, I think we saw this again this year in the Champions League. We have made an important journey, I’m sorry to face an Italian side but we have shown that we can play.”
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